Tuesday, May 25, 2010

Debra Monroe's forthcoming memoir (June 2010) entitled On the Outskirts of Normal: Forging a Family Against the Grain is about "being a white mother raising a black daugther" in a small, rural Texas town. The book has received rave reviews from Kirkus, a trade review journal for the publishing industry, and has been added to Vanity Fair magazine's "Required Reading" list.

As many of you already know, Debra will be an instructor at this year's Taos Summer Writers' Conference. Her workshop is called "The Search for an Orderly Story in the Disorderly Tangle of Memory." Only a few spots remain.

Wonderful news, Debra! On the Outskirts of Normal is only one of the author's acclaimed books. Her works of fiction include: The Source of Trouble, A Wild, Cold State, Newfangled, and Shambles. For more about the author, visit her website: http://debramonroe.net/.

Tuesday, May 11, 2010

Taos Instructor Jesse Lee Kercheval's novella, Brazil, was just released. Brazil won the 2008 Ruthanne Wiley Memorial Novella Contest, which was judged by Josip Novakovich. This is Kercheval's 11th book.

Here is an excerpt from Brazil:

"It was my birthday, my nineteenth birthday, and I was in the bar of one of the Art Deco hotels on the beach when I met her. They were always using this hotel on Miami Vice, although they were careful to take tight shots of the pink front and not show the bums and junkies down the street, not until later in the episode, so it seemed like they were miles away, in another Miami."

Kercheval's novella promises to be an excellent summer read. The cover alone is intriguing!

In the last few months, we've received updates from several folks who've come to the Taos Summer Writers' Conference in the past and want to share their success stories...

Fred Andresen, who took John Dufresne's master class in 2006 emailed to let us know his historical novel Dos Gringos, was just released and is available on amazon.com. It tells the true story of Andresen's immigrant Norwegian father's escapades in the Mexican Revolution. More information is available at http://www.andersen.com/.

Theresa Layton's short story, "The Other Side," recentently won the Perilous Adventures Short Story Competition in her native Australia. Theresa took Dan Mueller's fiction workshop last summer. Congratulations!

Kate Buckley's young adult novel, Choices, was a 2009 finalist in the New Mexico Book Awards. It also received a 2009 Gold Mom's Choice award in the Young Adult category. Read an excellent review of the book at MomsChoiceAwards.com or through the author's website: http://www.katebuckleybooks.com/. Kate participated in the Taos Summer Writers' Conference in '08 and '09. Excellent news, Kate!

If you've had some recent writing success, send us an email letting us know. Great work, writers!

Rob Wilder will be reading with Diana Joseph on their Bada$$ Motherfather Tour of New Mexico in Albuquerque this Sunday evening. The reading will take place 3pm May 16th at Bookworks, 4022 Rio Grande NW.

Wilder will read an essay from the newly published anthology, What I Would Tell Her: 28 Devoted Dads on Bringing Up, Holding Onto, and Letting Go Of Their Daughters.